Voorhiven
The town of Voorhiven The Fall of King Mahau King Mahau died of natural causes at the age of 93. With no wife, children or other heirs, the town fell under control of the town guard while they kept the death of the king a secret until an alternative could be found. The Rise of Villaus Less than a week after the death of Mahau, a dwarven noble named Villaus arrived at the city. Having just traveled eight months from Drunapal in Balest, he was unaware of the death of Mahau. Once Villaus learned of his death, being as he was there at Mahau's request, he used his vast wealth that he brought from Drunapal to pay off the town guard and claim the throne. Immediately upon claiming the throne, Villaus made attempts to secure the love of the people. He used the wealth from his homeland and inheritance to subsidize all the economy within Voorhiven. Unemployment was all but erradicated within the city. Wages went through the roof, though commodity prices also rose, however, with the subsidies, the wage increase was not proportionate to the inflation, thus creating a large sense of false wealth. Within months, Voorhiven became a merchant paradise. Travelers would come from around the world, manufacturing products in other cities with lower wages, then selling them at extreme profits in Voorhiven. To unsure unemployment was low, Villaus hired nearly all homeless and unemployed people as soldiers and mercenaries in his personal guard and army. This large army came in handy when a large invading force was spotted moving towards the city. Villaus mobilized the troops and sent nearly the whole of the army towards the invading force. The Great Theft With the town guard and nearly all forces gone from the city, Villaus and the palace, along with his multiple vaults of the city treasury, were left relatively unguarded. Two weeks into the invasion, an unknown enemy swept through the city and descimated the remaining guardsmen, and stole nearly all the treasury. During this sweep of the city, it was rumored that a man, bearing symbols of a well known banking organization known as the Steel Bank of Tytos, was seen entering one of the city vaults. Various rumors from dock workers also testified that he was attempting to recruit people to join him in some form of escorting job. Three ship captains also were hired by this mysterious man and asked to be ready to leave port within six hours. A few hours after the man was spotted by a few citizens, they entered the vault after seeing no guards around, inside they found what could only be described as a bloodbath. Almost a dozen bodies were scattered through the building, the treasury door was clearly lockpicked, and the entirety of the treasure was gone. Rumors regarding the theft of the treasury and the involvement of the Steel Bank of Tytos have begun circulating throughout the continent and region. This, in conjuction with rumors of a man representing the Steel Bank of Tytos causing disappearances of people for false debts in some of the small fishing towns around the Sea of Hroth, has led many towns to declare "kill on sight" orders for any representatives of the Steel Bank of Tytos, as well as many of the cities with more efficient policing forces to declare apprehension of them until the truth can be resolved. A number of Kings have also informally declared military action against the Steel Bank of Tytos in allegiance with the Githyanki and Otopian Armies, who have already declared war upon them. The Fall of Voorhiven Following the discovery of the empty treasury vaults, the people of Voorhiven began a massive, city-wide riot. Over three-quarters of the city was burnt to the ground and over ten thousand, or one third of the populations, died in fires, gang violence, or other causes. During this rioting, the king was out of the city tracking down his brother, Duggin, who was reported to have been involved in the invasion. A shady character approached the king, after being recruited by him for a mercenary mission with a group of fighters, and told him information that led the king to leave for an attack on his brother. During their march to Duggin's encampment, the character turned on him and led him into an ambush with Duggin's men. Villaus managed to escape, nearly killing a mage in the process, who foolishly tried to attack him head on. The king returned to the city and found it in chaos. He retreated to the palace with the few men that he was able to find in his retreat from the ambush. He held up inside the palace and fortified himself in the throne room. Duggin and a small force, dressed in the uniforms of the invading army, which they used to get through their lines, fought their way through the rioters and entered the palace and the throne room. Upon entry, they were faced with nine of the kings guard and the king himself. Duggin's men took on the guards while the king and Duggin had a one on one battle high above the throne room floor, on the balcony from the king's bedroom. The battle lasted a long time. Two gnoll warriors launched devastating strikes against the guardsmen, while the psyonic man that led the king into the ambush blasted the guards with his destructive power. Two of the guardsmen held back and stood their ground, repeatedly firing crossbow bolts at the attackers. One of the attackers, morphed his form and sneakily approached the crossbowman on the right side of the throne and slew him down. A former mercenary of the king had joined forces with the attackers and was assisting the gnoll warriors for a time, before pulling into defensive mode. This was a similar tactic used but the paladin that was in with the attackers, he approached the battle and complimented the force with his aura but was forced to retreat upon being dealt too many hits. The ranger of the group nearly gave her life to protect the gnome that was with their group but ultimately, despite her best efforts to deflect damage, she was unable to save the life of the gnome. He died near the end of the battle and was the only casualty of the attacking force. The mage and a detective from the north spent the fight dealing massive damage to the guards. The mage utilizing fire and lighting to descimate the guards, ultimately failed in a massive strike near the end and only slayed one guard. The detective, an elemental, slew one enemy near the bloodied former mercenary, and then focused his efforts on the second crossbowman, but was ultimately unsuccessful in killing him. Finally, with five guards slain and many of Duggin's men badly wounded, Duggin and the King were both bloody and nearing death. Out of energy and stamina, with their lives dwindling, the king lauched a flurry of attacks on Duggin, but his resolve held him fast. Duggin retaliated with a few quick decisive and critically wounding blows that put the king on his last leg. The king made a valiant effort against Duggin, but failed to wound him enough and Duggin landed a final deciding blow against the king, slaying him. The Infighting Following the battle, one of the attackers with Duggin turned and attacked a fellow member of their team. He was heard shouting, "This is pay back you backstabber." However, his attack did not kill the paladin he was attacking and the paladin fled the palace. Outside the palace, the paladin came face to face with the mob, that had then encircled the palace and was attempting to get inside. He attempted to make it out through the crowd but was too engrossed and weakened to make it through. He drew a lot of attention to himself as he pushed through and was soon stopped by a large man who immediately recognized him as the man that tried to hire his ship on the day of the Great Theft. The man and a few other members of the crowd seized the paladin and dragged him to the dock, they demanded he pay them for the lost time and contracts they were to have, in addition to the money he owed them. This total was nearly four hundred thousand gold pieces. Upon refusal to pay up, he was locked inside the hull of one of the ships and sailed out off the coast. The captain returned on a second ship and rumors say the captain returned, found the family members of those that he got killed in the vault, and allowed them each an hour with him. After they were all done he was tossed overboard in his full plate armor and fully bound. He was reported to have sunk like a rock. The Rise of Duggin Following the attack, Duggin claimed the throne and after a week of fighting his way out of the palace, he eventually calmed down the city itself. He then spent days giving speeches and establishing work forces to rebuild the city and gain their trust legitimately, not through handing out money. Duggin recruited the strongest of the city, not just anyone, to fight in his army. Within a month he had established a decisive territorial line that was well defended and fortified by his troops against the invading army. Their forces have dwindled and turned into limited combat skirmishes but it is still going on.